Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 11 both perk up after a couple of months in the doldrums

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After a couple of months that saw Windows 8.x stop growing and even lose some usage share, August was quite a turnaround. Both Microsoft's operating system and its browser saw usage increase. Firefox, which has been on a downward spiral for almost a year now, also had a good month, picking up a few points.

Internet Explorer was up 0.45 points, Firefox gained 0.15 points, and Safari's presence also grew, up 0.16 points. Chrome, however, lost out, dropping a hefty 0.76 points in the month. For both Firefox and Chrome, this marked the end of a ten month run of losses and gains, respectively.

Chrome's mobile performance is more assured, with Google's browser gaining 1.63 points in August. Chrome's sort-of predecessor, Android Browser, fell sharply, dropping 1.35 points, though overall this still represents a gain by Google's mobile browsers. Safari was up a little, growing by 0.24 points. Internet Explorer grew for the second month in a row, up 0.20 points.

After three months during which Internet Explorer 11's usage share slightly declined, Microsoft's newest—and, at last, continuously updated—browser resumed its growth. Version 11 was up 0.76 points, and version 9 up 0.18 points. 6, 7, 8, and 10, were all down, by 0.21, 0.04, 0.16, and 0.08 points, respectively. These changes aren't altogether surprising when seen in conjunction with the operating system usage figures.

Windows 8.1 was up 0.53 points, and Windows 8 was up 0.36 points. The losses of July have been more than offset, and as a whole, Microsoft's 8.x operating systems have a 13.37 percent usage share, their highest yet, almost double their share this time last year. These gains likely coincide with a large part of the Internet Explorer 11 gains. Windows 7 was essentially unmoved, down 0.01 points, likewise Windows Vista, down 0.03 points. Encouragingly, Windows XP's usage dropped 0.93 points in August. The old operating system is going away, but not fast.